Maury explains the challenges that MLB faces in attracting young and minority fans.

Whether it was the release of the movie“42,” the anniversary of Hank Aaron surpassing Babe Ruth as the all-time home run leader, or one of many articles each year telling baseball it has an “issue,” Major League Baseball decided recently it was time to create a task force to deal with the decline of African-Americans at the highest levels of the game. Baseball, like other professional sports leagues, likes to create this type of task force. It shows that the league cares, and well meaning be damned, is often stocked with people that likely aren’t difference-makers. Recommendations will be made, but they will be around things that don’t get at the heart of the matter, because those things are difficult—if not impossible—to fix.

The “problem” isn’t really a problem in the way that MLB’s task force is likely to look at it. It’s about the change in society, the growth of other sports, the power of television, the internet, how fast players can transition, the growth of other minority groups now playing the game, and, yes, marketing.

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Our good friends with the Cleveland Indians asked that we post this exciting opportunity for someone looking to work in the baseball analytics department of a major league team. Check out the job description and, if interested, click the link below it to apply. Good luck!

The Kansas City Royals are looking to hire a Systems Architect for their Baseball Analytics department. You can apply for the position by going to Team Work online. A copy of the job description is below. Let the Royals know you read about the opening at Baseball Prospectus.

JOB SUMMARY:
The Kansas City Royals Baseball Club is seeking a highly motivated data architect and systems developer to deliver analytics solutions to both baseball and business operations. While primarily working with baseball operations, this individual will also support projects for broader business operations. The ideal applicant will be able to manage multiple concurrent projects that expand the overall Royals’ information architecture and analytics capabilities.

With the 2012 baseball season finally upon us, it's time to announce BP's full slate of interactive events...designed to bring you, our fans and readers, closer to all the action.

Beginning on May 5, we launch our 2012 ballpark tour in St. Petersburg, Florida with the Tampa Bay Rays. From there, the tour continues with confirmed stops in San Diego, New York, Anaheim, Arlington, Minnesota, Kansas City, and Houston. We've partnered with Major League Baseball teams across the country and other great organizations like the Negro League Baseball Museum, The Newberg Report, The Royalman Report, and Royals Authority to bring you a fabulous experience every step of the way. Each event includes a one to two hour pregame discussion and Q & A session with members of Baseball Prospectus, special guests, and baseball operations representatives. Additional activities will be planned for All-Star Sunday in Kansas City.

Ben reports from the ballpark on Saturday's Yankees-Angels game and explains how and why he stopped worrying about working for a team and learned to love writing about baseball.

Here’s a theory of mine that may or may not be true: you can get almost anywhere in a ballpark as long as you’re wearing a lanyard. If you want journalistic access to a team, you could work hard for years, turning in clean copy on time and impressing your superiors until somebody sponsors you for season credentials or the BBWAA. Or you could skip all that, put on a good-looking lanyard, and try to look like you know where you’re going. Most people assume that anyone wearing one inside a stadium is supposed to be there.

I have my credentials, so I don’t have to fly casual and fake my way in. But I’m on my way to do something I’ve never done before, so I’m displaying my lanyard prominently and willing guards to look at it and let me pass. It’s Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, I’m standing outside Yankee Stadium, and I’m about to attend my first game as a member of the BBWAA.

In an effort to deliver top-quality products, BP has established a new advisory board.

Here at Baseball Prospectus, we strive for perfection in everything we do, but even the best collection of baseball writers and analysts on the web today can't be perfect. Sometimes we need input from you, our readers and subscribers, and other times we need to turn to the insight of those with experience in and around the game.

General managers are never more in the spotlight than they are this week in the days leading up to Sunday's deadline to makes trades without securing waivers on players. How well some of the GMs navigate these next three days could determine their future. Make the right move and get your team to the postseason, and it could result in a contract extension. Fail to improve your club and finish out of the money, and you could be out of a job.

A look back at the reign of the the longtime Yankees owner, who passed away on Tuesday morning.

A titan has fallen, and an era has ended. Just two days after venerated Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard's death, and nine days after celebrating his own 80th birthday, principal Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away Tuesday morning due to a heart attack. He had been in failing health for several years, rumored to be suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, and had ceded control of the team to sons Hank and Hal as his handlers increasingly protected him from the glare of the spotlight.